070 Credit
The background is white. ; Panel 1 Zane is looking down and to the side with an evasive, anxious look on his face. He's sweating and has one hand to his head while bringing his other hand out in front of him in a hesitant gesture. Short, thin lines coming from his head express his startled feelings as he says "I'm not sure I feel so *hot* about this..." Dr. Angstrom, standing a few feet away from Zane and facing away from him, looks up with a resolved expression and holds a fist in front of his chest in a gesture of determination. He says "If this is an opportunity to publish a great paper -- and *heal* a town's *madness* in the process -- we *must* take it." The background is rendered in muted blues that are slightly lighter than the blues used in the background in most of the previous strip, but not as saturated and bright as that in the contrasting panel in the previous strip. ; Panel 2. Angstrom is shown in several poses, walking around Zane and talking, while Zane stays in the center of the panel, a dismayed, helpless expression on his face and thin, short lines coming from his head, expressing his complicated feelings about Angstrom's monologue. The effect is as if Angstrom is walking around Zane and thinking out loud, while Zane is staying still and looking on the entire time. Angstrom starts off with his head bowed slightly, one finger touching his chin, and saying "In fact, for it to work, you may need to feel the *opposite* of quote hot unquote about it!" Angstrom moves a few feet away from Zane and, holding both hands up, palms toward himself, looks off in the distance and says "*Order* of memory may be critical..." Angstrom moves to Zane's other side, and, stooped over slightly, touches his chin with one finger. He's shown in profile, so his glasses aren't hiding his eyes, and his face shows that he's concentrating deeply as he continues, "We cannot reproduce your *nightmares*, but we *can* immerse you in places you've been. Things you did." Angstrom faces away from Zane, taking several steps away from him until he appears to be nearer to the reader than to Zane, and continues, "A study like this has *never* been attempted...!" ; Panel 3. Zane looks on with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression anxious and awkward and sweat beading at his temple, as Angstrom opens the journal and studies it. Angstrom says "The very exercise falls under your *mnemodyne* category -- of which you wrote, quote occurrence which recalls a prior event but with a changed circumstance unquote. Quite *scholarly*... To be honest, I wish *I'd* thought of it..." ; Panel 4. Zane faces Angstrom, and the two of them are shown in profile. Zane looks worried as he says "Maybe you *did* think of it, Doc! I could have shared my journal with you at the time. Maybe *you* named the categories." Angstrom's expression is delighted as he answers "Hmm! I suppose. I mean, with how *well* they work, it's possible. They do sound like mine. A little." ; Panel 5. Zane's eyebrows are drawn together slightly as he says "...Do you... *want* credit for it, Doc?" Angstrom closes his eyes and raises his eyebrows, saying "I couldn't have come up with it without you."